Assets
Sitemap Assets (Game Assets) : ''' * See also Types_of_assets * See also Templates * See also Reuse Items * See also Object * See also Auto Generation Auto-Generator * See also Player Created Assets * See also Player Creation Contests * See also Game_of_this_type_-_Difficulties * See also Modular_Game_Objects --- --- --- --- --- '''Game Assets - Data which makes up the game (used by the Game Engine to make the game operate). Game Assets are data objects that represent (and define) things in the game. These can be as complicated as behavioral scripting for 'intelligent' objects or even definitions of game mechanics (the way game interactions are handled. An important aspect of this MMORPG idea is to allow Player to have a VERY LARGE role in creating additional assets and having them integrated into the game. Sounds, Textures, Human Figures(3D Mesh), Objects in the Terrain, Scripts(program code to direct interactions of objects), Text, Level Maps - all are made up of data of one type or another (or set of several together) used to define parts of the game. Various Tools are used to create and modify this data . --- --- --- Assets For a 'Good' MMORPG - Can Take More Work (Each One) ''' : Assets which need to look good only once or twice (or which never get more than a glance), and under controlled/limited conditions, can usually be made cheaper than Assets which need to look good (and/or operate good) under many possible and extended situations (and seen over and over). Reusability needs versatility, which requires Objects to be more complicated (and require more work to create them adequately). Interacting in more ways required the underlying Game Engine and the Game Mechanics to support that versatility. Shared Attributes being specified for all this additional Complexity CAN BE MINIMIZED by utilizing a systematic application of Templates - subsets of attributes and scripting for similar object types. --- --- --- '''Better Detailing of Assets Possible : Many details in the Solo BioShock games had to be limited due to Render speed and memory capacity of the GPU cards that were decided as the median "Target Hardware" of the expected Players. 10 years later (and more by the time THIS MMORPG or any game like it happens) - advancements will make for great improvements : * Now Players can make use of far faster SSD (solid state disc/drives) loading into memory (wait a while and the M.2 specs increase that another 4 fold) * Far more Graphics memory (past XP and its 4GB limit) and GPUs several generations further along. * More main Memory and CPUS with more Cores * Higher general bandwidths (to transfer asset data from Servers --- --- --- The Problem with Asset Detail Quality Advancements - Consistency : The extra work to make something accurate then might need to be applied to most everything in the game for consistency, or you would have the *better* stuff visually (experiencially) conflict Immediately with the lesser quality stuff. In a MMORPG, there is a HUGE amount of detail, and the development task then multiplies geometrically for such consistent quality improvements - as compared to even a typical AAA Game. Having LA Noire quality human interaction followed by some crude cartoonishly-detailed Asset assemblage can be quite jarring (easily noticed). This MMORPG's Template mechanism may help a bit to ease the task, but there's always the corners/endcases that cannot be generalized (which can take ALOT of work to make of equivalent quality). So how do you hold to some median quality, while allowing the BEST Player Creators to do (put time/effort into) what they CAN and WANT to do (making use of the improved abilities/capacities of the MMORPG's advancements) ???? --- --- --- --- --- . .